Review of Empirical Studies on Climate Risk—Effects and Activism

This review focuses on major contemporary empirical studies that examine both the physical and regulatory sides of climate risk. These studies explore how climate risk affects firms’ operating performance and leverage, stock and bond valuation, cost of capital, and managerial behavior. We also discuss how the effect of climate risk on real estate markets depends on individuals’ beliefs about climate change. Furthermore, we summarize papers on climate risk activism and how firms can employ financial devices and technology to mitigate their climate risk. Finally, we make some recommendations for further research areas.

Media Sporting Events as Platforms for‘Soft Power’and Digital Activism

Mediatic sporting events are increasingly used in the geopolitical arena to gain consensus, at the same time emerging as platforms for the discussion of social issues, such as human rights and sustainability. This article presents an investigation into the role of mediatic sporting events and digital platforms in sparking political debate and social engagement to bring about change, including discussions on global and local interests and the performances of activist fans to promote debate on specific issues. The investigation employs a quantitative methodology. The initial inductive analysis uses a matrix of cultural key-frames of the empowerment and protest that accompany media sporting events, verifying their presence and effectiveness in different communication milieus. An analysis of the representation of protests on social media was performed through content analysis. The results of the investigation show that mediatic sporting events are to be understood as a diverse range of generators of multiple political effects: from the exercise of power to mass mobilization and media criticism.

An Auto-ethnographic Observation:Hashtag Activism in Chinese Post-Feminist Age

This paper provides an auto-ethnographic observation of hashtag feminist activism on Weibo, setting in a context of post-feminism age in China. Two subjects, the Hot Search List and its Public Discussion Forum, were chose to examine the complexity of the current situation of this hashtag activism. An auto-ethnographic methodology was used to interrogate the states quo of Chinese online feminist movement, revealing gender-centric discussions reinforcing stereotypes under the guise of equality. Misogynistic narratives, algorithmic constraints, censorship, and official opposition pose significant barriers to feminist discourse. Nonetheless, the study identifies a potential for hashtag activism within Weibo’s discourse, offering a space for resistance. By acknowledging these challenges, this paper seeks to empower Chinese feminists to challenge dominant narratives and advocate for their rights.

Research on Media Activism： In and Beyond the Film Sphere

For over a century, nofi-fiction film has figured prominently in the public sphere as a powerful means of persuasion Among the different types, video activism is a typical one which has been exploring by many scholars. Thus, this article discussed media activism from different spheres. Though this people could figure the difference between video activism and ordinary social documentaries. And also those studies about the function, mechanism, strategies of the video activism provide a foothold for a further study of media activism.

Media Activism in Search of Truth： Questioning the Mission to Restore Sanity

For a young, media savvy, radically globalized generation, television as a platform for news has lost momentum. Ironically, however, in a media landscape with a variety of news providers competing for audiences and trust, television news parodies like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report attract new audiences as they seem to fill a gap. They succeed not only in entertaining and informing （even educating） a previously ＂deactivated＂, relatively young target audience, but also in initiating activism by using old and new （social） media. How can it be that a comedy show succeeds in promoting reason and gets young people to stand up for more sanity in politics and culture？ In the sense that, in this case, critical （subversive） practice comes fxom within the mainstream, is television, as the platform that has been criticized for ＂dumbing down＂ audiences （cf. Postman 1985）, actually becoming the solution for commitment7 In this constellation, what is the role of self-determined （intrinsic） and acquired （extrinsic） practices in relation to mobilized practices and practices determined by other factors？ And how do they work differently in comparison to the subversive practices of tactical media and media activism that question the methods of biopower？ This paper examines several responses to the （more and less serious） calls for action of the two shows and discusses their delicate role as entertainers, watchdogs, and activists for reason, sanity, and what is left of truth in the media. Furthermore, implications for critical media studies are considered by questioning the claims of education towards truth （of. Mitterer, 1983）.

Kenya and the Emerging Power-Shift in Global Political-Economy: Right-Wing Populism and Social Media Activism

A potential global power transition characterized by emerging economies of BRICS where China is the likely leading contender against the United States as the only global hegemon seems inevitable.The increasingly multipolar world is evidenced by the attention given to right-wing populism in Europe and USA attributed to China’s aggressive approach to international trade through its stealth entry and subsequent investments in global political-economy.China’s presence in Africa and Trump’s America first policy’s attempt to open“new business frontiers”in emerging economies of Asia and Africa in order to contain Chinese influence and threat in global hegemony are interesting happenstances that require closer scrutiny.Kenya,the biggest economy in East Africa,which is among the fastest growing regions globally,is the gateway to the East African Common Market.Historically,Kenya has a policy of non-alignment in international relations making it possible to receive FDI from both China and the US but with highly contested elections.Therefore,Kenya presents a perfect laboratory for examining the emerging power-shift in global political-economy as the country grapples with traditionally chaotic electoral power transitions and the two biggest economies in the world compete for business in Nairobi.The 2017 elections not only betrayed the international community’s commitment to Western values of human rights and democracy,but also revealed the challenges of governance in post-World War II global liberalism characterized by sophisticated media institutional spaces.

Explaining Japan＇s Shift to Foreign Policy Activism： Security Challenges and Perverse Political Accountability

The paper examines the root causes of Japan＇s rapid shift to foreign policy activism. To explain the causes, I develop the so-called ＂perverse political accountability＂ approach. Specifically, the approach claims that a growing security challenge from China and North Korea, and US policy favoring Japan＇s foreign policy activism structure. Japan＇s domestic political condition that the majority of Japanese people become more conservative and nationalistic. Such shift in the Japanese people＇s preference has been both creating and reinforcing a perverse accountability by which the leaders or parties willing to adopt hard-line foreign policies are better off electorally while the leaders or parties remaining soft-line on foreign affairs are worse off. The perverse accountability not only leads to a severe partisan imbalance between the conservative parties and the leftist parties, but also gives the most conservative party, e.g., the Liberal Democratic Party （LDP）, a greater chance of coming to office and of pursuing assertive foreign policy they favor. Thus, the perverse accountability is at the center of current Japan＇s turn to foreign policy activism. This finding contributes to an enhanced understanding for Japan＇s shift to assertive foreign policy.

Media Activism in Religious Groups of Facebook in Brazil：Abadiania, Irmaos Verdadeiros and Amor a Nossa Senhora Aparecida E A Igreja CATOLica

This work aims to investigate the phenomenon of media activism in the social network of Facebook with organizedreligious groups. The three groups indicated keep the participation system closed and, for this, they need theapproval of the respective administrators. Three groups were chosen, they are： Amor a Nossa Senhora Aparecida eA lgreja Cat61ica, Irmaos Verdadeiros e Abadiania. For the elaboration of this research was used as method thecontent analysis of the posts of the religious groups of Facebook and, through this research, the contents werecategorized and classified according to the approach of each one. The period of analysis was between January 1,2017 andJanuary 15, 2017.

English Christmas Pantomime： Theatre or Community Activism

How is English Christmas panto community activism？ The structure of pantomime has not changed in a hundred years, but allows for local creativity to work within its framework to be both family entertainment and social satire This basic structure is founded on a children＇s story like Puss ＇n ＇boots or Cinderella. The story and character types remain the same; but the community can add their own jokes and commentary to make the play relevant to themselves and their community. What is added by the community says a lot about who they are and what they care about. The company Price-Waterhouse-Coopers produces their pantomime as management training and team building while engaging the community. The Basel Swiss panto raises money for African Charities. The Maplewood, NJ panto raises money for the homeless and the Jaguar Charity panto in Birmingham performs to disadvantaged children and adults. The productions can be extravagant or threadbare, but share the same goal of raising cheer and goodwill to the benefit of the community. What is it, then, about panto that brings a community together in such civic mindedness？

How Much Digital Activism Plays a Role in Political Activism： A Case Study of Morocco＇s February 20th Movement

The present paper seeks to investigate the extent to which digital activism plays a role in political activism in Morocco through the intersection between women and young activists movement and the social media. By doing so the author argues that while facebook and the Moroccan political arena are Male dominated public areas, young female activists have emerged as prominent leaders in both spaces. The author will more particularly explain why female and youth activists are important in the current state of Moroccan politics. Next, the author provides a discussion of the February 20th Movement, and the movement＇s utilization of Facebook. It will show that young female activists involved in the February 20th Movement have used Facebook in unique and creative ways to further the Movement.

Explorations in the Tension Between Media Activism and Action-Oriented Media Pedagogy

In historically, culturally, and technically variable media constellations, various forms of media activism, media education, and learning design have been developed. As to media activism, there is a broad spectrum, including graffiti, radio activism, community media, visual activism, tactical media （Garcia ＆ Lovink, 1997）, and more recently, media interventions questioning the workings of biopower （Da Costa ＆ Philip, 2008）. On the other hand, debates on media competency and media literacy have been going on for a few decades. Although media have also been conceptualized as media of resistance or critique in informal contexts as well as in formal education, lively exchanges of concepts and ideas are comparatively seldom in respective traditions. The paper aims at exploring challenges for media education and interfaces between both fields.

The Impact of Shareholder Activism on Corporate Performance——Evidence from China

The separation of ownership and management of companies results in agency problems between shareholders and management to some extent.In Western countries,shareholders usually actively participate in the company’s management and monitor management issues in order to enhance the company’s performance.At present,China’s securities market,as well as institutional investors are undergoing a rapid development,while problems of governance among listed companies in China have been negatively affecting the development of capital markets.Institutional investors have developed to form a certain scale.Moreover,national policies,as well as the split-share structure reform,further encourage the growth of institutional investors,and their active participation in corporate governance in order to better promote the development of capital markets.A great deal of research pertains to the effects of shareholder activism on corporate performance in Western countries.However,research on shareholder activism in China is scanty.Furthermore,chances are that in some specific Chinese regions and industries circumstances are unique,in which the well-established theories cannot be effectively applied.Therefore,this paper empirically analyzes the correlation between shareholder activism and corporate performance so as to examine how effective China’s institutional investors participate in the governance of listed companies.This paper empirically tests the impact of shareholder activism on corporate performance.In this paper,an unbalanced panel data set consisting of observation is constructed.Then,in order to insure validity of results,a series of preliminary tests are conducted.Furthermore,Panel data method and robustness check are performed for empirical analysis.Finally,the result of the empirical tests shows that there is a positive correlation between Chinese institutional shareholding ratio and corporate performance of listed companies.This indicates that shareholder activism can definitely promote the corporate governance and corporate performance in China.

基于GRU-DRSN的双通道人体活动识别

人体活动识别(human activity recognizition, HAR)在医疗、军工、智能家居等领域有很大的应用空间。传统机器学习方法特征提取难度较大且精度不高。针对上述问题并结合传感器时序特性,提出了一种融合CBAM(convolutional block attention module)注意力机制的GRU-DRSN双通道并行模型,有效避免了传统串行模型因网络深度加深引起梯度爆炸和消失问题。同时并行结构使得两条支路具有相同的优先级,使用深度残差收缩网络(deep residual shrinkage network, DRSN)提取数据的深层空间特征,同时使用门控循环结构(gated recurrent unit, GRU)学习活动样本在时间序列上的特征,同时进行提取样本不同维度的特征,并通过CBAM模块进行特征的权重分配,最后通过Softmax层进行识别,实现了端对端的人体活动识别。使用公开数据集(wireless sensor data mining, WISDM)进行验证,模型平均精度达到了97.6%,与传统机器学习模型和前人所提神经网络模型相比,有更好的识别效果。

“ACTIVE”英语学科育人模式构建与应用

本研究以“立德树人”为核心理念,构建“ACTIVE”英语学科育人模式。该模式通过六个关键维度--学科育人(AIM)、文化浸润(Culture)、思维可见(Thinking)、技术融合(Integration)、美德根植(Virtue)和情感共鸣(Empathy)--全面激发学生英语学习的热情,培养他们的语言能力,同时注重道德品质的熏陶和文化素养的提升,促进英语学科素养落地。本研究不仅为英语教学实践提供了新的视角,也为其他学科育人模式的构建提供了有益的参考和借鉴。

区域推进小学英语学科育人的探索及实践

文章以“立德树人”根本任务为契机,通过构建区域“积极主动(ACTIVE)”英语学科育人模式,不断完善多方协同、全员参与的育人机制,积极探讨在小学英语课堂中落实学科育人的有效方法和途径。

2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities:A third update of the energy costs of human activities

Background:The Compendium of Physical Activities was published in 1993 to improve the comparability of energy expenditure values assigned to self-reported physical activity(PA)across studies.The original version was updated in 2000,and again in 2011,and has been widely used to support PA research,practice,and public health guidelines.Methods:This 2024 update was tailored for adults 19-59 years of age by removing data from those≥60 years.Using a systematic review and supplementary searches,we identified new activities and their associated measured metabolic equivalent(MET)values(using indirect calorimetry)published since 2011.We replaced estimated METs with measured values when possible.Results:We screened 32,173 abstracts and 1507 full-text papers and extracted 2356 PA energy expenditure values from 701 papers.We added303 new PAs and adjusted 176 existing MET values and descriptions to reflect the addition of new data and removal of METs for older adults.We added a Major Heading(Video Games).The 2024 Adult Compendium includes 1114 PAs(912 with measured and 202 with estimated values)across 22 Major Headings.Conclusion:This comprehensive update and refinement led to the creation of The 2024 Adult Compendium,which has utility across research,public health,education,and healthcare domains,as well as in the development of consumer health technologies.The new website with the complete lists of PAs and supporting resources is available at https://pacompendium.com.

Effects of elafibranor on liver fibrosis and gut barrier function in a mouse model of alcohol-associated liver disease

BACKGROUND Alcohol-associated liver disease(ALD)is a leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality,but there are no therapeutic targets and modalities to prevent ALD-related liver fibrosis.Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor(PPAR)α and δ play a key role in lipid metabolism and intestinal barrier homeostasis,which are major contributors to the pathological progression of ALD.Meanwhile,elafibranor(EFN),which is a dual PPARαand PPARδagonist,has reached a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of metabolic dysfunctionassociated steatotic liver disease and primary biliary cholangitis.However,the benefits of EFN for ALD treatment is unknown.AIM To evaluate the inhibitory effects of EFN on liver fibrosis and gut-intestinal barrier dysfunction in an ALD mouse model.METHODS ALD-related liver fibrosis was induced in female C57BL/6J mice by feeding a 2.5% ethanol(EtOH)-containing Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet and intraperitoneally injecting carbon tetrachloride thrice weekly(1 mL/kg)for 8 weeks.EFN(3 and 10 mg/kg/day)was orally administered during the experimental period.Histological and molecular analyses were performed to assess the effect of EFN on steatohepatitis,fibrosis,and intestinal barrier integrity.The EFN effects on HepG2 lipotoxicity and Caco-2 barrier function were evaluated by cell-based assays.RESULTS The hepatic steatosis,apoptosis,and fibrosis in the ALD mice model were significantly attenuated by EFN treatment.EFN promoted lipolysis and β-oxidation and enhanced autophagic and antioxidant capacities in EtOH-stimulated HepG2 cells,primarily through PPARαactivation.Moreover,EFN inhibited the Kupffer cell-mediated inflammatory response,with blunted hepatic exposure to lipopolysaccharide(LPS)and toll like receptor 4(TLR4)/nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB)signaling.EFN improved intestinal hyperpermeability by restoring tight junction proteins and autophagy and by inhibiting apoptosis and proinflammatory responses.The protective effect on intestinal barrier function in the EtOH-stimulated Caco-2 cells was predominantly mediated by PPARδ activation.CONCLUSION EFN reduced ALD-related fibrosis by inhibiting lipid accumulation and apoptosis,enhancing hepatocyte autophagic and antioxidant capacities,and suppressing LPS/TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses by restoring intestinal barrier function.

A comparison study on structure-function relationship of polysaccharides obtained from sea buckthorn berries using different methods:antioxidant and bile acid-binding capacity

In this study,the structural characters,antioxidant activities and bile acid-binding ability of sea buckthorn polysaccharides(HRPs)obtained by the commonly used hot water(HRP-W),pressurized hot water(HRP-H),ultrasonic(HRP-U),acid(HRP-C)and alkali(HRP-A)assisted extraction methods were investigated.The results demonstrated that extraction methods had significant effects on extraction yield,monosaccharide composition,molecular weight,particle size,triple-helical structure,and surface morphology of HRPs except for the major linkage bands.Thermogravimetric analysis showed that HRP-U with filamentous reticular microstructure exhibited better thermal stability.The HRP-A with the lowest molecular weight and highest arabinose content possessed the best antioxidant activities.Moreover,the rheological analysis indicated that HRPs with higher galacturonic acid content and molecular weight showed higher viscosity and stronger crosslinking network(HRP-C,HRP-W and HRP-U),which exhibited stronger bile acid binding capacity.The present findings provide scientific evidence in the preparation technology of sea buckthorn polysaccharides with good antioxidant and bile acid binding capacity which are related to the structure affected by the extraction methods.

A brief history of the Compendium of Physical Activities

The Compendium of Physical Activities(Compendium)was developed to address consistent assignment of physical activity(PA)intensity values used in PA epidemiology research of the association between PA and health outcomes.1The known protective effects of PA on incident health outcomes traces to the mid-1900s,with over 50 studies examining coronary heart disease(CHD)as the outcome of interest.

Association between physical activity and risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease:A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Lifestyle plays an important role in preventing and managing gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD).In response to the conflicting results in previous studies,we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate this association.Methods:Relevant studies published until January 2023 were retrieved from 6 databases,and the prevalence of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux(GER)or GERD was determined from the original studies.A random effects model was employed to meta-analyze the association by computing the pooled relative risk(RR)with 95%confidence intervals(95%CIs).Furthermore,subgroup and dose-response analyses were performed to explore subgroup differences and the association between cumulative physical activity(PA)time and GERD.Results:This meta-analysis included 33 studies comprising 242,850 participants.A significant negative association was observed between PA and the prevalence of symptomatic GER(RR=0.74,95%CI:0.66-0.83;p<0.01)or GERD(RR=0.80,95%CI:0.76-0.84;p<0.01),suggesting that engaging in PA might confer a protective benefit against GERD.Subgroup analyses consistently indicated the presence of this association across nearly all subgroups,particularly among the older individuals(RR_(<40 years):RR_(≥40 years)=0.85:0.69,p<0.01)and smokers(RR_(smoker):RR_(non-smoker)=0.67:0.82,p=0.03).Furthermore,a dose-response analysis revealed that individuals who engaged in 150 min of PA per week had a 72.09%lower risk of developing GERD.Conclusion:Maintaining high levels of PA decreased the risk of GERD,particularly among older adults and smokers.Meeting the recommended PA level of 150 min per week may significantly decrease the prevalence of GERD.